The association of many symptoms with stress is increasingly common, but is this so? Could it be that anxiety, this frenetic pace, and our attempt to follow it can trigger so many problems in our body? Well, the reality is yes. It is not the only factor, and it does not affect everyone in the same way, but if you do not eat properly, if you do not rest properly, and if you live in permanent tension, you can suffer numerous alterations.
One of the symptoms associated with anxiety is having your ears plugged, and you will wonder what you can do to feel better. Read on to find out.
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How Stress and Anxiety Affect Your Ears
The ears are susceptible structures that are fundamental in our relationship with the outside. They can be effortless to be affected by stress and anxiety, then we explain why:
Decreases the arrival of blood
The blood vessels in the ears are highly delicate structures. These are fragile capillaries that can easily be affected by variations in blood pressure.
In situations of anxiety or stress, nervous responses are triggered that cause adrenaline and cortisol to be secreted. These substances redistribute the blood in our body, for example, sending more blood to the legs, which are what will make us run in the face of danger and less to the ears.
When this feeling of alarm is permanent, the whole organism becomes unbalanced since it is not customary to maintain that emergency response constantly. Thus the ears can receive less nutrients through the blood and generate all kinds of problems: the feeling of a blocked ear, hearing loss in one or both ears, vertigo, buzzing, etc.
Muscle contractures
Something pervasive today is bruxism: the involuntary contraction of the chewing muscles. These muscles attach to the jaw joint and are among the strongest in the body. When they contract, that tension also expands to the cervical muscles.
On the one hand, this contraction can decrease blood flow to the ears and cause hearing problems.
On the other hand, muscle contracture causes irritation and tension in the nerves that carry the ear’s sensitivity and are close to the jaw joint. This causes you to have the Sensation of having your ears covered, pain in the ears, and even a terrible itch, very typical of bruxism.
Dryness in the body
A reasonably common association that is often overlooked in Western medicine is the dry state of the body about increased anxiety and various symptoms such as insomnia, memory loss, and hearing loss.
Increased congestion
Not all of us respond in the same way to stress and anxiety. Some people find it difficult to change, and they tend to sleep more, to feel tired, and, frequently, this can be accompanied by nasal secretions.
It usually occurs in people who frequently consume flour, sugar, flavored drinks, processed products, etc.
When there are greater nasal secretions, a sensation of having the ears like inside a drum can be generated, you hear less what comes from outside, but your own voice and your internal sounds resonate.
How to unclog ears plugged by anxiety
I would simply say that you should decrease stress. This would solve most of your problems, but it is not an easy task because it involves a significant change in your lifestyle.
Anyway, you can try to make changes little by little, and you can use different tools to reduce the effect that stress has on your life, which is completely possible.
What can you do to alleviate the feeling of blocked ears? Pay attention to each of these points:
How healthy
It is a very important pillar to regain lost balance. Leaving aside foods that are difficult to digest and generate many toxins in the body is a crucial step to improving your hearing.
Choosing natural, whole grain, and pesticide-free foods is important. Avoid processed foods, refined flour and sugar, alcohol, coffee, tobacco, and carbonated beverages.
Likewise, giving room for digestion, not snacking all day, and eating healthy fats are essential to feeling better.
Rest what you need
It is essential to sleep between 7 and 8 hours at night to regain balance. Sleeping during the day, sleeping less time, going to bed, and getting up late are some of the habits that you should review to feel better.
Some feel they get enough rest by sleeping only 4 or 5 hours, and even less. This is already a sign of imbalance that must be addressed because it can lead to serious complications if it is maintained over time.
Uncover your ears with your breath
A very simple and very effective technique is to use breathing to reduce anxiety and the negative effects it has on the body. In addition, it has been shown to be very effective in reducing inflammation, improving sleep, reducing irritability, among other benefits.
Just sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and feel your breath. Then follow the steps below:
- Release all the air.
- Count to 4, holding your breath.
- Take a deep breath.
- Hold the air for a count of 4.
- Start again.
Repeat this sequence. If you find it difficult, you can start by doing it for 5 minutes and gradually increasing the time.
The ideal is to do this practice for 20 minutes every day, and in fact, you can do it several times a day.
Apply heat
This is especially useful when the Sensation of plugged ears is associated with bruxism or contracture of the head and neck muscles.
Better hydrate your body
As we have seen, it is essential to correct dryness in the body. If you suffer from dry skin and constipation, it is totally related to more significant anxiety.
To correct it, you should not only drink water since this substance alone does not improve dryness. It is essential to provide healthy fats from the diet. A key food to achieve this is clarified butter, also known as ghee.
Another way to improve that dryness is by massaging with oils (sesame or coconut are ideal). This enhances the body’s circulation and, secondarily, will strengthen that feeling of having the ears plugged.
Identify what you don’t want to hear
This is an exciting and essential point. It is not something new that there is a direct link between our emotions, how we deal with what we have to live, and the body’s symptoms.
From different scientific positions, it has been identified that not wanting or not hearing something can trigger a sensation of plugged ears or directly a hearing loss.
How to control anxiety
First of all, it is essential that you propose it, that you propose to make some changes that will undoubtedly help you feel better.
Sadly, there are no magic recipes or pills to restore your balance. Drugs used to treat anxiety simply “calm” us, but they do not help us genuinely correct the cause of that anxiety.
Being present is what you live, what you eat, what you see, who you are with, what you hear at this moment, is essential to “kill anxiety.” Anxiety is the product of our constant thinking and how we bring to life thoughts that would otherwise be inconsequential.
Identify what is important to you pay attention to yourself and your surroundings. That way, little by little, the anxiety will disappear to give way to who you are.
This article is merely informative. At FastlyHeal .com, we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any kind of condition or discomfort.
What to do if you want to read more articles similar to Sensation of ears plugged by anxiety? We recommend that you enter our category of Mental Disorders.
I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.